5 Reasons to Get Intimate This Fall and Winter

There’s no doubt that the weather can affect your mood. Many people say they feel more romantic during the summer months, when the weather is warm and the sun is shining. But that doesn’t mean the cooler months can’t be good for your sex life. Here are five reasons why your sex and love life could improve when the cold weather sets in.

Testosterone goes up in cold weather

Decreased testosterone levels are one possible cause of low libido in men. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, testosterone levels increased in cooler weather, and the lowest levels correlated with the months that had the highest temperatures and longest days. The researchers found that testosterone levels varied by as much as 31 percent based on the weather.

The smell of pumpkin pie is sexually arousing

Here’s another reason to get excited about the onslaught of pumpkin-flavored everything this fall and winter. Different scents can be a turn on or a turn off, depending on your sex. But the combined scents of pumpkin pie and lavender are sexually arousing to both sexes. Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., the author of Scentsational Sex, looked at the connections between scents and sexual arousal and found that test subjects had a sexual response to the combined smells of pumpkin pie and lavender, increasing penile blood flow in men by an average of 40 percent and vaginal blood flow in women by 11 percent.

You are more apt to watch a romantic movie

During the colder months, people are more willing to watch and pay for a romantic movie, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The researchers theorized that physical coldness activates a need for psychological warmth, which can be satisfied by watching a romantic movie. When the weather is too cold to go out, why not cuddle up with a romantic film?

Men find women’s bodies more attractive in the winter

A study published in 2008 found that men viewed women’s bodies more positively in cold weather than they did in warm weather. During the warmer summer months, the study’s authors suggested, men are exposed to women’s bodies daily, whereas in the winter, people are more likely to be covered from head to toe. This can make those same bodies more attractive to men in the colder months.

Eileen Bailey is an award-winning author of six books on health and parenting topics and freelance writer specializing in health topics including ADHD, Anxiety, Sexual Health, Skin Care, Psoriasis and Skin Cancer. Her wish is to provide readers with relevant and practical information on health conditions to help them make informed decisions regarding their health care.